Marketers under estimate the value of email to the consumer
The 2009 Marketing-Gap Tracking study conducted by fast.Map and the DMA has revealed that email is the consumer’s preferred direct marketing channel.
The study showed that consumers are now more than ever more willing to receive emails from trusted brands and products they are interested in. The study also revealed the fact that marketers are largely underestimating this consumer willingness. A panel of 300 marketers thought that 28% of consumers would be happy to receive emails about companies that they know of when actually 51% of the consumer panel expressed interest.
Robert Keitch, chief of Membership and Brand for the DMA commented that “consumers are largely receptive to direct marketing, but only under the right circumstances”. Marketers now need to ensure that emails are relevant and targeted in order to increase this consumer interest that will then drive revenue from email as a channel.
Regardless of this underestimation among marketers email is still coming out on top as an excellent tool for ROI. The 2010 Email Marketing Census conducted by Adestra and Econsultancy revealed that 75% of companies rank email as a good channel for ROI. This was the second highest among the channels that saw only SEO coming in higher at 78%.
To read the full Marketing-Gap Tracking study click here >>
To read our Email Marketing Census 2010 click here >>
Serena Elston, Client Strategy Executive